From the News You Can Use Archives 02/26/07

February News Digest
By Ian Crawford, Web Communications Editor

• Washington Update
• Answer on a Postcard?
• Bid for a Year of College on eBay — We Have a Winner!
• Latino Students and Student Loans — A Cultural Problem

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Washington Update
House Joint Resolution #20 passed both houses and was signed into law by President Bush on February 15. It is a spending measure to finance higher-education programs for the remainder of the 2007 fiscal year; that is, through September 30.

Included in the bill is a 6 percent increase in the maximum Pell Grant award by $260 to $4,310 effective July 1, 2007.

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Answer on a Postcard?
A recent report suggests that the federal student aid application process can be radically simplified and that eligibility could be explained on a postcard.

College Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid by The Hamilton Project, an initiative of The Brookings Institution, a Washington , D.C.-based think tank, proposes a drastic simplification of the current system of education grants and tax incentives.

The report proposes combining the federal Pell Grant and the Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits for undergraduates into one grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education and using financial information already collected though the IRS to determine eligibility. This can all be explained on the back of a postcard making it easier for students and families to plan ahead, knowing how much they may be getting in grant aid.

College Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid —The Hamilton Project

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Bid for a Year of College on eBay — We Have a Winner!
As reported in last month's digest, Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OWU) put a full year of tuition, room and board up for auction on eBay with the bidding starting at one penny.

The bidding ended February 13 with a winning bid of $18,669.99. There were 14,146 hits on the eBay page for the auction, and 33 bidders. The winning bid came from Candace of Douglas, Wyoming on behalf of her younger sister, Chelsea, so that she can join her at OWU next fall.

Oklahoma Wesleyan University Web Page on the eBay Auction

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Latino Students and Student Loans — A Cultural Problem
Many Latino students have an aversion to taking out loans to fund their postsecondary education, which can stop them from applying for college or cause undue hardship during their studies.

In a News You Can Use article this month, we took a look at some of the reasons for this apparent aversion.

Complete Article: Latino Students and Student Loans — A Cultural Problem

Story posted February 26, 2007.

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